Apple and chestnut harvests escape heat

THE recent hot weather may have tried its best to prevent growers from seeing results in their orchards, but according to local farms, fruit quality across the region remains excellent. Snowline Fruit’s Henry Hilton said the season was a little tricky but his orchards avoided the wind and hail storms reported in other parts of the state. “We had to deal with frosts at the start in late October but it’s been quite reasonable here,” he said. “We’ve had rain almost every fortnight which is unusual but great for tree growth and fruit growth as we’ve seen a very good size in apples; really they’re on the verge of being too big." in fact, some of his Honeycrisp apples were so big he sent four into the Myrtleford Times/Alpine Observer office to demonstrate their size. One was a whopping 615 grams. Mr Hilton said apple volumes are good and the quality is excellent. “Currently we’ve picked Honeycrisp and Royal Gala and now we’re waiting for Red Fuji, Granny Smith and Pink Lady to get to right size to pick, they come later," he said. “This season is two to three weeks earlier than last year, probably because it warmed up quickly so plant growth got underway pretty well. “The biggest thing is the cost of production is killing us; everything is up substantially and all these things compound on us heavily because you can’t keep putting apples up beyond the point where people won’t buy them. “To cover costs we need more money than what we’re getting as the cost increase outweighs returns.” Wandiligong grower Don Nightingale, of Nightingale Bros Alpine Produce, said their Kanzi apples were slightly affected by hot weather, but apple quality and quantity is otherwise good. “So far we’ve picked about a total of 5000 bins of Royal Gala, Kanzi and Red Delicious, with Jazz and Granny Smith finished this week before we get to Fuji, Pink Lady and Envy," he said. “We’ve been fortunate this season and we’ve got a good team working with us.” Last week Nightingale Bros were harvesting their first chestnut variety. “Again, the hot weather for a start wasn’t good for the crop as it makes harvesting trickier," Mr Nightingale said. “It’s important to get them off the ground quickly as they dry out faster. “We just finished harvesting our Bouche variety so there’s lots more to come but so far the nuts are a good quality and good size thanks to the summer rains.” Chestnuts Australia Inc. president Brian Casey said growers were optimistic about this season. “What I’m hearing from other growers is nuts were sent to market as early as late February and by early March there was reasonably high volume," he said. Mr Casey said the warmer weather has been unconducive to chestnut eating, so demand hasn't been as strong. “Sales have still gone quite well at this stage but around Easter will be the beginning of the peak of harvest," he said. “The weather still looks quite warm and dry but we’re expecting an increase in demand around Easter which is good as there will be plenty of nuts. “The dry conditions may see a slightly smaller crop but growers are optimistic. “Quality is okay at this stage, growers are happy with what they’re producing. “We’ll see how it all goes after Easter with colder weather and near the end of harvest.”

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